Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Farewell To Freedom”?
Artist Statement
I have been a fan of The Colbert Report since early in it’s run. I really love the character Stephen created, because he brilliantly illuminates and satirizes the techniques of cable news pundits while simultaneously using the aggressive nature of the character to ask tough questions of guests across the political and cultural spectrum. I’m in awe of Colbert’s intelligence and quick wit. I’ve had the honor of being a guest on The Colbert Report a couple of times and my artwork has been used or discussed on the show a few other times. Stephen is such a formidable interviewer, that I almost lost my nerve to go on his show when I was first asked in January 2009. Right before I went on the show, I found out that Stephen and I both went to the same uptight and elite prep school in Charleston, S.C. I felt that our shared experience at Porter-Gaud, a school where the key to survival was being able to verbally and intellectually eviscerate the enemy, made me more prepared for the interview. I hated Porter-Gaud, sought refuge in art, skateboarding, and punk music, and left the school after 9th grade, while Stephen obviously thrived and stayed through graduation. Regardless, I thought I did pretty well in my interview. Click here to watch the interview. When Stephen asked me if I’d be one of the guests on his farewell show, I was incredibly flattered, but when I was also asked to do a graphic for the final episode, I was humbled. The pressure to do something strong for the FINAL Colbert episode was daunting. With Stephen everything has to be over-the-top, hyperbolic, life-imitates-art or art-imitates-life (who knows which?) ego-driven absurdity, so we conceived an image that would aspire to the grandeur of his final skit. Stephen liked the image I created enough to not only incorporate it into the show, but to allow me to make a limited edition of art prints. They will be available TODAY! I’m grateful to Stephen for his inclusion of me and my work on his show, but I’d mostly like to thank him for being a supreme leader in the war against bullshit! Even in character, it takes incredible smarts and courage to maintain the rigor of his show and bring the heat to George W. Bush at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The Colbert Report will be missed, but I’m sure that with his fierce intelligence, Stephen will bring a new dimension to the Late Show. I look forward to it. -Shepard 18 x 24 inch screen print on natural paper. Signed and numbered edition of 500. $50.
Summary
Farewell To Freedom is a 2014 screen print on natural paper, 24 x 18 inches, in a signed and numbered edition of 500 at $50, published by Obey Giant. Fairey created the graphic for the final episode of The Colbert Report at Stephen Colbert's invitation. The image was designed to match the over-the-top, hyperbolic grandeur of Colbert's farewell, and Colbert incorporated it into the show before allowing Fairey to release it as a limited print. The piece commemorates the end of a satirical news program Fairey admired for skewering cable-news punditry and political power.
Why It Matters
This print is a direct artifact of a notable pop-culture moment: the December 2014 series finale of The Colbert Report. The source documents that Fairey was both a farewell-show guest and the artist commissioned for the final episode's graphic, a graphic Colbert used on air before approving the limited edition. That on-air provenance, tied to a specific cultural event, distinguishes it from Fairey's more generic music or political prints. Fairey frames Colbert as "a supreme leader in the war against bullshit," connecting the work to his broader interest in satire and speaking truth to power, including Colbert's famous appearance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The personal angle, both men attended the same Charleston prep school, Porter-Gaud, adds a documented biographical hook collectors enjoy. As a relatively accessible $50 edition of 500 commemorating a beloved show's end, it carries crossover appeal beyond core Fairey collectors to fans of Colbert and political satire, making it an entry point that still ties into Fairey's counterculture and critique-of-power sensibilities.
Collector Perspective
This piece draws Fairey collectors plus a wider audience of Colbert and political-satire fans, given its documented role in The Colbert Report's finale. The $50 price and edition of 500 make it an accessible commemorative print rather than a top-tier rarity, which suits buyers wanting a recognizable cultural touchstone. It displays well in a media room or a collection themed around satire, counterculture, and Fairey's pop-culture collaborations. Collectors who track works with on-air or event provenance will value the connection to a specific, dated television moment. It pairs naturally with Fairey's other music and counterculture portraits from the same window.
Historical Context
Released December 19, 2014, this print captures the conclusion of The Colbert Report, a defining satirical program of its era. The source places Fairey within the show's orbit going back to a January 2009 guest appearance, and notes the shared Porter-Gaud prep-school background that he credits with preparing him for Colbert's interviewing style. Creating the graphic for the final episode situates the work in Fairey's mid-2010s practice of merging his art with high-profile pop-culture and media events. It also reflects his career-long affinity for punk, satire, and challenging authority, here expressed through admiration for Colbert's on-air confrontation of political power. The piece functions as a dated commemorative marker within Fairey's broader catalog of music, counterculture, and pop-culture collaborations.
FAQ
What occasion did this print commemorate?
Per the source, Fairey created the graphic for the final episode of The Colbert Report at Stephen Colbert's invitation. Colbert incorporated the image into the show and then allowed Fairey to produce a limited edition of art prints, released the same day the finale aired in December 2014.
What are the specifications of Farewell To Freedom?
The source describes it as an 18 x 24 inch screen print on natural paper, signed and numbered in an edition of 500, priced at $50 and published by Obey Giant. It was released December 19, 2014.
What is Fairey's connection to Stephen Colbert?
Fairey states he was a longtime fan of The Colbert Report and had been a guest a couple of times beginning in January 2009. He also notes that he and Colbert both attended the Porter-Gaud prep school in Charleston, S.C., though Fairey left after 9th grade.
Why does Fairey admire Colbert's work?
Fairey credits Colbert with brilliantly satirizing cable-news punditry while using his character to ask tough questions across the political spectrum, calling him "a supreme leader in the war against bullshit" and citing his confrontation of George W. Bush at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Related Works
About the Artist
Shepard Fairey (b. 1970, Charleston, South Carolina) is an American street artist, graphic designer, and activist, and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His 1989 “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker grew into the global OBEY GIANT campaign — an ongoing experiment in propaganda, obedience, and visual culture. He reached worldwide recognition with the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Barack Obama, now held by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Across screen prints, stencils, murals, and collage, Fairey channels propaganda aesthetics toward themes of peace, justice, environmentalism, and civil rights. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and LACMA.